Abrasion rails for car retarder



y 1967 T. w. WIGTON ETAL 3,321,048

ABRASION RAILS FOR CAR RETARDER Filed March 29, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTORS Theron Wayne Wigfon Stark E/bridge Tracy ATTORNEY y 1967 T. w.WIGTON ETAL 3,321,048

ABRASION RA [LS FUR CAR RETARDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 52 Filed March 29, 1965INVENTOR S Theron Wayne Wigran Star/c E lbridge Tracy ATTORNEY UnitedStates Patent 3,321,048 ABRASION RAILS FOR CAR RETARDER Theron WayneWigton and Stark Elbridge Tracy, both of Aurora, 11]., assiguors toChicago, Burlington & Quincy This invention relates to a retarder fordeceleration of railroad cars in a yard moving from the hump section ata predetermined speed.

In such yards, cars to be classified are shuttled down a lead trackconnected to various classifying branches in the yard, and the cars areswitched into a particular branch and allowed to move by gravity to thelower end of the branch. At this point car retarders are employed tohalt the first car allocated to a particular classifying branch.

One type of retarder with which this invention is used is shown anddescribed in Patent No. 2,947,385 dated Aug. 2, 1960. Such retarders arelocated at the extreme end of the yard and are provided with sections ofrail for braking which are both parallel and in a vertical plane on bothsides of each running rail, thus applying pressure to the flange and rimof the freight car wheels, and thereby stopping the moving cars.

When cars are stopped by the means of the presently used retarders, theresultant noise is highly objectionable, being at a frequency of some3000 cycles with amplitude capable of radiation in a radius of severalcity blocks. The retardersare so essential in the operation of theyards, and the noise so extremely objectionable, that means had to beprovided to modify the retarders to eliminate the noise. This is theprincipal object of the invention.

Several materials were tested and used in place of the present rail typeabrasion rails, viz., polyurethane,.bronze, and cast iron, but each hadobjectionable characteristics, notably short life so as to beeconomically unfeasible. Finally ductile cast iron was tried and theresults were very successful in eliminating the objectionable noise. Itis another object of the invention, therefore, to provide abrasion railsfor car retarders, the wear surfaces of which are constructed of ductilecast iron.

Ductile cast iron provides a higher coefficient of friction than steelrail and thus the braking power of the retarder is improved.

It is a further object of the invention to form the abrasion rails sothat each may be readily reversible and thereby double the life of eachrail.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear in thefollowing description thereof, having reference to the accompanyingdrawing wherein like reference characters indicate like parts.

In the drawings,

FIGURE 1 is a plan view showing a pair of car retarder assembliesassociated with a pair of traffic rails at the lower end of a railroadyard;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of one of the retarder rails showing itsnarrowed width at the ends thereof;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation of the device;

FIGURE 4 is a section on line 4-4 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged cross section of one of the abrasion rails shownin FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged cross section of a modified form of abrasionrail.

The invention is applicable to a car retarder having arms disposed onopposite sides of a track rail in a rail road yard. These arms areidentical throughout so as to be interchangeable, and each supports andI-beam, upon the flanges of which are welded bars of ductile cast i wearsurfaces of the retarder.

iron providing wear surfaces facing each other above the heads of thetrack rails on which the wheels of the cars to be stopped ride.

Ductile irons, or graphitic steels, are a family of steels which combinethe processing advantages of cast iron-- low melting point, goodfluidity and castability, excellent machinability and, most important toapplicants, good wear resistance-with the engineering advantages ofsteel, including high strength, toughness, ductility, hot w0rkability,and hardenability. This combination of properties provides a materialwhich is ideal for the abrasion rails of a car retarder. Ductile ironscomprise a small amount of magnesium added to a high carbon base ironwhereby a metal is produced having a microstructure of spheroidalgraphite in a steel matrix, having the aforesaid high strength,ductility and good resistance to shock.

The car retarder assemblies are of the order of forty feet in length andthe opposite ends are outwardly curved to provide easy accesstherebetween of the: flange of the car wheel just prior to being grippedby the abrasion rails.

The retarding rails associated with retarding assemblies are disposed onopposite sides of the track rail with the wear surfaces facing eachother slightly above the level of the track rail. The arms and the webof the track rail are provided with openings which may be alined andthrough which a track bolt passes to hold the assembly together and tothe track. The openings through the arms diverge outwardly so that thearms may pivot on said bolts when car wheel flanges and rims engage theThe arms project below the base of the track rail between the ties onwhich the rail rests, and are provided with a second set of alined holesthrough which another bolt extends having a precompressed expansivehelical spring mounted thereon, the ends of which spring bear againstthe opposed inner faces of the retarder arms biasing the same apart,which causes the opposite sides of the retarder arms to move together,squeezing the flange and rim of any wheel that may be on the track. Thestrength of the springs and the preloading thereof in the assembly aresuch as to provide the correct pressure of the abrasion rails on theflange and rim of a wheel passing therebetween.

The above briefly describes that part of a car retarder, such as shownin US. Patent No. 2,947,385, to which the invention pertains, and thesame may be incorporated herein by reference thereto.

Our invention replaces the retarder rails 14B and 15B of that patentwith our improved abrasion rails which will now be described.

A structural type I-beam of conventional form having web 10 is fitted onits side over the tops of the arms 8-8 and each is bolted thereto withbolts 6-6. These I- beams are of the order of 39 or 40 long, the usuallength of a piece of track rail, and by reference to FIGURE 1 it will benoted that the ends of these abrasion rails taper somewhat to a point sothat, at the extreme ends of the retarder, wheels on the rail 9 mayreadily enter the space between the opposed abrasion rails. To providethis taper, the web 10 of the abrasion rail has an elongated V- notchflame cut therefrom at each end, probably about 2' in length, and thenthe flanges 12-12 are squeezed together until the cut edges of the web10 meet, when they are welded together again, resulting in the taperedends of the beam as shown in FIG. 2. The web 10 of the I- beam isprovided with transverse holes therethrough for the reception of thebolts 6 to hold the same to the abrasion arms. A ductile iron strip 14the length of the retarder arm is applied to a flange of the abrasionrail and welded thereto as indicated, and a similar ductile iron stripis welded to the other flange of the abrasion rail. The abrasion rail istherefore reversible by simply removing bolts 6, turning the abrasionrail over, so that the other ductile iron strip is facing the car wheel.

The spring assemblies for urging the retarder rails against a wheelmoving therebetween are located along the track 9 between every secondand third tie, as shown in FIG. 1. The web of each rail of the track isprovided with spaced holes 16. Upon each side of the track web is aflange 18 having spaced holes 20 therethrough corresponding to the holes16 in the track and through which bolts 22 extend to hold the flanges tothe track rail. These flanges support a pair of spaced ears 24 extendingnormally from flanges 18, and between which ears 24 are pivotallysupported the arms 8, as shown. Arms 8 extend below the base of thetrack rail between a pair of ties and the lower ends of arms 8 supporttherebetween a preloaded expansive helical spring 26 on a bolt 28extending between the lower ends of said arms. The spring pressure onthe lower ends of the arms 8 causes the upper ends of the arms with theabrasion rails thereon to move toward each other so that when a wheelpasses therebetween the abrasion rails will engage opposite sidesthereof and apply a braking force thereto.

The I-beam 10 is shown as an ordinary I-beam rolled section but it isobvious the same could be fabricated from three pieces of plate materialwelded together, in which event that piece forming the web could besheared off at the ends so that when the pieces are welded together theabrasion rail would have the tapered ends as shown in FIGURE 2.

The modification shown in FIGURE is that of two pieces of channel weldedtogether back to back so as to result in a fabricated I-beam, and theductile iron straps 14 are welded to the composite flanges of thisI-beam as shown. This type, if used, is similarly mounted on theabrasion arms 8-8.

For years railroad yard superintendents and others have sought somemeans of ending the severe noise menace of present day car retarders.Those experienced with such retarders, or the person skilled in thisart, will at once appreciate the fact that with this material all of theobjectionable noise in the range of 3000 cycles has been completelyeliminated. Furthermore, the braking power of the retarder has beenimproved due to the higher coefficient of friction of the ductile castiron abrasion units as compared to the steel rail used in the past.

It will also be apparent that the length of the unit may be varied tosuit the particular conditions of the yard where used.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that we have devised a carretarder which has overcome a most annoying menace of present day carretarders, is much more eflicient in operation, and has quicklyreversible parts for longer life and economy.

We claim:

1. The combination with a rail mounted railroad car retarder comprisinga pair of abrasion beams positioned on opposite sides of a track railand means for urging said beams toward each other for retarding thewheels of a car traversing said rail between said beams, of wheelcontact portions on opposite sides of said beams consisting ofductile'cast iron, whichare adapted to bear against the rim and flangeof said wheels.

2. The combination with a rail mounted car retarder comprising a pair ofabrasion beams on opposite sides of a track rail, and means for urgingsaid beams toward each other to squeeze and thereby retard the wheels ofa car traversing said rail between said beams, of wheel contact portionslongitudinally along said beams consisting of ductile cast iron whichare adapted to bear against the rim and flange of said wheels.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Mars et al.188-62 DUANE A. REGER, Primary Examiner.

2. THE COMBINATION WITH A RAIL MOUNTED CAR RETARDER COMPRISING A PAIR OFABRASION BEAMS ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF A TRACK RAIL, AND MEANS FOR URGINGSAID BEAMS TOWARD EACH OTHER TO SQUEEZE AND THEREBY RETARD THE WHEELS OFA CAR TRAVERSING SAID RAIL BETWEEN SAID BEAMS, OF WHEEL CONTACT PORTIONSLONGITUDINALLY ALONG SAID BEAMS CONSISTING OF DUCTILE CAST IRON WHICHARE ADAPTED TO BEAR AGAINST THE RIM AND FLANGE OF SAID WHEELS.